What Is the Purpose of a Firewall?
Firewalls are a crucial part of a business network’s security architecture. They identify and filter malicious traffic to protect the network against different cybersecurity threats and unauthorized access. Businesses looking to gain the trust and credibility of their clients need firewalls to enhance data protection and prove that their networks and systems are less susceptible to attacks.
Understanding the role of firewalls in a business network helps you unlock an effective method of protecting your network assets from cybersecurity threats.
What Is a Firewall in Cybersecurity?
A firewall is your first line of defense against cyber attacks. It’s a proverbial term coined from physical walls, which act as barriers that slow down the spread of fire in an emergency. By definition, a firewall is a network security device that monitors and controls data packets and traffic flowing in and out of a computer or a network system.
It inspects and authenticates all business network traffic, including online transactions, communications, connectivity, outgoing traffic and application-layer traffic. It incorporates advanced features like integrations, automation and sandboxing placed at different network points.
How Does a Firewall Work?
Firewalls are positioned between a computer or network and another network or segments of your network. They segment the network and use preprogrammed network security rules to create a more secure networking environment. These rules determine which traffic to allow in and which traffic to block. Typically, the rules define the different data parameters to inspect, like source and destination IP addresses, applications, ports and content.
Without firewalls, company information can be accessed by internal and external sources. This leaves your network susceptible to attacks by leaving it open to any person or program. Different types of firewalls inspect data packets at different points of the network, like the application layer and the network layer.
Firewalls can be installed on business network hardware and software. Network firewalls are physical devices positioned between a computer and the internet. Most operating systems (OSs) have built-in firewall software that regulates network traffic and controls specific network behavior.
The Purpose of a Firewall
Firewalls provide superior protection against malicious internal and external actors. They’re designed to monitor and filter internet traffic in and out of a computer network. Below is a breakdown of the purposes of network firewall security.
Protect From Unwanted Traffic
Firewalls prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving the network. They inspect and authenticate data packets against preestablished network security policies before allowing them access to secure network segments. They monitor application-layer traffic for potential attacks like malware, outgoing traffic for insider threats or social engineering attacks and workflows for unauthorized web activities.
Firewalls act as choke points that minimize the risks of cyber attacks spreading through web traffic. They can be configured to block web traffic from certain locations, ports and applications that are prone to malicious actors.
Prevent Unauthorized Access
With firewalls in place, there’s a distinction between external and guarded networks. Firewalls inspect and identify benign and malicious network packets based on an organization’s pre-configured security protocols. They prevent internal network users from downloading malware and visiting inappropriate websites.
Additionally, they prevent hackers from accessing your network through backdoors, denial-of-service attacks, spam, social engineering, remote logins, viruses and macros. Firewalls can completely stop attackers from accessing a network or deter them from easier targets. They provide ongoing protections against malicious attackers around the clock, even outside normal business operating hours.
Defend Against Cyber Attacks
Firewalls effectively increase an organization’s cybersecurity vigilance. They create a crucial line of defense against a wide variety of cyber attacks, including virus attacks, malware, social engineering attacks, ransomware and spyware. They prevent unauthorized network access and ensure data protection, minimizing downtime, maintaining your company’s reputation and reducing financial losses.
For instance, firewalls use signature-based detection techniques to prevent the entry of known malware into the network. Some firewalls accept virtual private networks (VPNs), which encrypt data packets and secure remote access to private networks, minimizing tampering and eavesdropping.
Ensure Regulatory Compliance
Firewalls help organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements and industry best practices by ensuring adherence to data protection standards. Most regulatory frameworks require the use of firewalls to secure customer and employee information and avoid potential penalties and lawsuits.
Internal auditors and regulators use comprehensive and verifiable logs detailing internal and external network traffic as evidence of activity history and security measures.
Ensures Data Privacy
Firewalls protect employee and client data against unauthorized access and data breaches. Providing clients with evidence of data protection enhances their trust in your abilities and fosters longer-lasting relationships. It gains you a competitive advantage against other businesses in your industry without firewall protection and serves as a key selling point to potential customers.
The Limitations of Firewalls
While firewalls efficiently improve network security by entering unwanted and potentially dangerous traffic, there are some cybersecurity functions they’re not capable of performing:
- They can’t protect against cyber threats like phishing emails that require certain actions like clicking a link or deceive recipients into sharing sensitive information.
- They don’t protect network hardware against physical theft and data leakage. When a network device is stolen, the firewall won’t prevent hackers from gaining access and installing malicious software.
- They may be unable to detect unknown malware without a known signature already recorded in a company’s firewall network security policy.
- They may be too expensive for small enterprises to procure, leaving them vulnerable to a wide range of attacks.
- They don’t monitor traffic flowing in or out of a network through a modem.
- They’re ineffective against nontechnical security risks and poor user decisions.
- They don’t enforce password policies or prevent password misuse.
- They don’t protect against internal attackers, such as authorized employees purposely breaching firewalls and network security.
- In high-traffic environments, they may falsely block valid traffic, negatively impacting network performance and reducing productivity.
Contact Kirbtech for Business Firewall Assistance
Firewalls are necessary for protecting networked systems in various business environments. Investing in the right firewall suitable to your unique business needs ensures enhanced protection against potential cyber threats and unauthorized network access. At Kirbtech, we have a team of IT professionals who can assist you in choosing the best firewall solution and personalizing it to your needs.
Our IT solutions are competitively priced, and we offer a free consultation to ensure you’re confident in our abilities before you commit. Choosing Kirbtech for computer firewall security assistance means we’ll scale with you and provide you with reliable remote support and fast response times.
Contact us to learn more about our cybersecurity firewall and other network security assistance services, or schedule a free cybersecurity assessment today.
